Cloth-spreading machine



Nov. 27, 1923 M. UQRMAN CLOTH 'SPREADING momma m Y L: 2 Q m M M N m2 M Q M m M M a m flbtomeqo Nov. 27, 1923 M. DORMAN CLOTH SPREADING MACHINE Filed Dec. 4, 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 M a M fi Q\\ w th woo C lthan @130 Nov. 27, 1923 M. DORMAN CLOTH SPREADING MACHINE Filed Dec. 4. 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Nov. 27, 1923.

MORRIS DORMAN, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

CLOTH-SPREADING MACHINE.

Application filed December 4, 1922.

Z '0 all whom may concern:

Be it known that 1, Morris DORMAN, a citizen of Russia, residing at Baltimore, and State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cloth- Spreading Machines; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

In clothing and similar factories, it is common practice to unwind predetermined lengths of cloth from a roll by hand and cut the lengths from the material remaining on the roll, the cutting operation also being performed by hand. As the lengths of cloth are drawn off of the roll and cut therefrom, they are laid one upon the other and later, the clothing or the like is cut from the stack of cloth. The unwinding and cutting operations are performed on a long table and it is necessary that the operator of the machine shall walk continually, first from the roll-carrying end of this table to the opposite end thereof, to pull the cloth from the roll, and then back to the roll-carrying end of the table to cut the length of cloth from that remaining on the roll. The task is thus rather arduous and slow. It is the object of my invention however to provide an extremely simple and inexpensive, yet a highly efficient and reliable machine for performing the work of successively unwinding predetermined lengths of cloth from the roll and cutting them transversely, the arrangement being such that the machine may be mounted easily upon a table of the character now used for handoperations.

With the foregoing in view, the invention reside in the novel subject matter hereinafter described and claimed, the description being supplemented by the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a machine constructed in accordance with my invention. showing the same installed upon the top of a table.

Figure 2 is a side elevation.

Figure 3 is a vertical transverse sectional view as indicated by line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

-Figure f is a central vertical longitudinal sectional view out through a portion of the machine.

Serial No. 604,953.

Figures 5 and 6 are longitudinal sectional views taken substantially A u 1 1g. 1, showing different on line 5-5 of positions of the operating mechanism for the carriage which pulls the cloth from one end of the table to the other.

nal sectional views taken line 1111 of Fig. 1, show substantially on ing the different positions of the clutch and its controlling 1n the drawings above briefly described, the numeral 1 designates the table of the well known form, upon which cloth is spread and cut in the manner above mentioned. At one end of this table, I provide means for sup-- porting one or more rolls of cloth 2. Adjacent this means, is a guide and tension device for the cloth consisting of upper and lower plates 3 and A, the plate A being secured to the table 1. For a purpose to appear, the free forward edges of the guide plates 3 and 4t are provided with spaced fingers 5 and in front of these fingers, I provide relatively fixed and movable cloth shearing knives 6 and 7 these knives being suitably mounted upon supporting stand;

ards 8 which are secured to the table 1. The

ends of the movable knife 7 are provided with depending operating links 9 connected with eccentrics 10 on the 11 which extends between ends of a shaft the lower portions of the standards 8, one end of said by appropriate shaft 11 being connected gearing 12 to a transverse shear-operating shaft 13, this shaft being mounted in appro 'priate bearings 1A secured to the table 1.

By means yet to be deseribed,the shaft 13 is intervals, thus causing rotation of the shaft 11 which moves the cutting blade7 downwardly into operative co-action with the fixed blade 6, thereby cutting a length of cloth, as will be clear rotated at predetermined by reference to Fig..4:.

At 15, I have shown a c arriage which is g movable longitudinally upon the table 1, one side of said carriage having supporting rollers 16 running between parallel tracks 17 on the table, while the opposite side of said carriage is provided with rollers 18 which merely rest upon a track 19 on the table, this track being of fiat formation. The carriage 15 is provided with relatively fixed and movable cloth gripping jaws 20 and 21 which are normally closed under the action of a suitable spring 22, said jaws having cloth gripping fingers 23 adapted to grip the portions of the cloth held between the fingers 5 when the carriage is adjacent the shear, the movable jaw 21 being moved away from the fixed jaw 20 to permit the cloth to be received between the fingers 23, by means of a crank arm 24 on said movable jaw 21, cooperable with a suitable cam 25 which is stationary upon the table 1. T he arm 24, in the construction shown, is pro vided with an outwardly extending roller 26 which rides up the cam 25 as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 8', thereby opening the jaws of the carriage to permit the same to receive the cloth therebetween. Then, the roller 26 leaves the, cam and drops onto the surface of the table as shown in full lines in Fig. 8.- By this time, the carriage has been started toward the opposite end of the table by means yet to be described and a pivoted terminal 27 on the cam 25 permits the roller 26 to pass beneath said cam with out disturbing the jaws of the carriage.

At the end of the table 1, remote from the cam 25, a second cam 25 is provided which is of the same construction as said cam 25, with the exception that its position is reversed. Thus, when the carriage 15 has pulled a predetermined length of cloth from the roll, the cam 25 releases the jaws from the cloth and the shearing means immediately comes into play, as will behereinafter set forth.

A drive shaft 30 extends across the table 1, at the end thereof remote from the roll or rolls 2, said shaft being provided with a sprocket 31 and a beveled gear 32 which rotate with said shaft as a single unit. A second sprocket 33 and a beveled gear 34: are mounted loosely upon the shaft 30 to ro tate as a unit thereon and a horizontal beveled gear 35 meshes with the two gears 32 and 3 1 to drive gear 34 and sprocket 32 reversely from the gear 32 and sprocket 31. A pair of endless belts or chains 36 and 37 are trained around the sprocket wheels 81 and 33 respectively, and around other sprocket-s 38 and 39 which are loose upon the drive shaft 13 of the shear mechanism,

the two chains-36 and 37 being parallel with the tracks 1'? and 19.

The carriage 15 is provided with a rigid lateral arm 40 which extends across the up perreaohes of the chains 36 and 87 and these chains are each provided with a pick-up dcvice 11 to engage said arm 10, the pickup device 11 of one chain being operative to move the carriage in one direction, while the device 11 of the other chain then moves it in the opposite direction. These pick-up devices 1-1 are preferably in the form of levers having limited pivotal movement on the chains and fixed trips 12 are mounted on the table for releasing said levers from engagement with the arm 40 at the ends of the carriage strokes.

I provide a suitable clutch for connecting the sprocket wheel with the shaft 13' to operate the shear, when the carriage 15 has reached the limit of its cloth pulling stroke. This clutch which is shown most clearly in 9, 11 and 12, preferably includes a toothed wheel 4-3; secured upon the shaft 13 within a hollow hub d5 of the sprocket wheel 39 anda pair of springreleased pins 46 passing slidably through openings in said hub. A pair of lateral pins or theliked'? on the chain 36 are adapted to engage with the pins 16 at the proper time for moving these pins inwardly and thus engaging them with the toothed wheel 1 1, whereby the sprocket 39 is connected op; eratively with the shaft 13 and will operate the shearing mechanism to first lower and then raise the movable knife 7,, thereby seven ing a length. of the cloth from the roll and dropping it onto the table, it being understood that in the meantime, the aws 20 and 21 of the carriage 15 have been disengaged from the opposite end of the cloth strip.

lVhile the operation of the machine would probably be understood from the foregoing, it may be briefly described, One or more rolls oi? cloth'2 are nounted on the table and are started by hand between the guide plates 8 and 4. hen now the machine is set in operation and the carriage 15 moves toward said plates 8 and 41-, the cam 25 and the crank arm 2-il co-operate in opening: the jaws of said carriage the enter between the fingers 5. Then e cam release the crank arm 24 and the 22 closes the jaw 21 upon the cloth to grip the same. By the time this occurs, the pick-up device 41 of the chain 36 has ezwaged the arm 40 and starts moving the carriage 15 to the right in F'g. 1, thus una lcngthot cloth from the roll and rel-ea it at the proper time, by virtue of 0 crack arm and the cam. 25. By the this has t en: place, the clutch 4:3 is automatically thrown into play by the pins or the like 1 7, with the result that chain 36 and :5 rocket 39 will rotate the shaft 13, thus operating the shear to cut the length of cloth from the roll and drop'it onto the table between the; tracks Hand 19. By the ti this hastaken place the pick-up device of the chain 36 has struck one of- Ice (ill

the releasing arms 22 and has been disengaged from the arm 40. A moment later, the pick-up device 411 of the chain 37 which is traveling in the opposite direction, engages the arm 40 and thus the carriage 1.5 is returned to grip another length of cloth. When the end of this stroke of the. carriage is completed, the pick-up device 41 of the" chain 37 is released from engagement with the arm 40 by the other of the trip devices 42.

As excellent results have been obtained from the details disclosed, these details are preferably followed. It is to be understood however that within the scope of the invention as claimed, numerous minor changes may be made.

I claim:

1. A machine of the class described comprising a sheet pulling carriage, a shear for cutting the sheet transversely, a pair of endless belts parallel with the path of the carriage, means for oppositely driving said belts, means for connecting said carriage first with one belt and then with the other to produce reciprocation of said carriage, and an operating clutch for said shear con trolled by one of said belts.

2. A machine of the class described comprising a sheet pulling carriage, a shear for cutting the sheet transversely, a pair of endless belts parallel with the path of the carriage, means for oppositely driving said belts, means for connecting said carriage first with one belt and then with the other to produce reciprocation of said carriage, an operating shaft for said shear, a wheel rota-table with respect to said shaft and driven by one of said belts, a clutch for connecting said wheel with said shaft, and means on one of said belts for throwing said clutch into play when said carriage reaches the limit of its sheet pulling stroke.

3. A machine of the class described c0mprising a sheet pulling carriage, a shear for cutting the sheet transversely, a pair of endless belts parallel with the path of the carriage, means for oppositely driving said belts, means for connecting said carriage first with one belt and then with the other to produce reciprocation of said carriage, an operating shaft for said shear, a wheel rotatable with respect to said shaft and driven by one of said belts, a clutch (co-axial with said wheel for operatively connecting it with said shaft, and means on said one belt for throwing said clutch into play when said carriage reaches the limit of its sheet pulling stroke.

4. A cloth spreading machine comprising a horizontally elongated table, a tension device stationarily mounted at one end of said table for slidably holding the end of a sheet in a single fixed position, said tension device having spaced sheet-gripping fingers,

&

and a carriage movable along said table toward and from said tension device and having relatively fixed and movable sheetgripping fingers receivable between the aforesaid fingers.

5. A cloth spreading machine comprising a horizontally elongated table, a normally raised vertically movable shear extending across said table, a cloth tensioning device stationarily mounted on the table at one side of said shear for slidably holding one end of the length of cloth, a reciprocating carriage mounted on said table at the other side of said shear and having a cloth-gripper movable under said shear to grip the cloth end held by said tensioning device and draw the same under said shear to a predetermined extent, and means for then automatically lowering said shear.

6. A machine of the character described comprising a table, a sheet guide on said table having spaced sheet-holding fingers, a reciprocatory carriage mounted on said table and provided with relatively fixed and movable jaws having spaced fingers receivable between the fingers of said guide for gripping the sheet, a. crank arm extending laterally from the movable jaw of said carriage and cam means co-operable with said crank arm for controlling the movement of said movable jaw, a shear adjacent said guide having a t ansverse driving shaiit mounted on the table, a pair of sprockets loose upon said shai t and a clutch for connecting one of them with said shaft, a transverse drive shaft remote from said shear driving shaft, fixed and loose sprockets on said transverse driving shaft, and means for driving the loose sprocket reversely from the fixed sprocket, a pair of endless chains trained around the sprockets of the two shafts, one of said chains having meansfor automatically throwing said clutch. into operation, a rigid arm extending laterally from the aforesaid carriage across said chains, pick- 11 updeviccs on said chains for engagement with said rigid arm to alternately move said carriage 1n opposite directions, and trip devices for releasing said pick-up devices from engagement with said arm when said 1 carriage reaches the limits of its strokes.

t. 1.. mar me 0, iv o ass oescii er tom 1118111 a air of o .mositel driven endless h i r beltshaving parallel reaches, a carriage movable on a. path parallel with said reaches, an 12 arm extending laterally from said carriages across said reaches, pick-up devices on said belts engageab'lealternately with said arm to move said carriage in opposite directions, and means for releasing said pick-up devices from said arms at the ends of the carriage strokes.

8. A machine of the class described comprising a. pair of oppositely driven endless belts having parallel reaches, a carriage movable on e. path parallel with said readies, an arm extending late-rally from said ceir'izvge across said reaches, lev 1's pivoted to said belts and having limited movement with respect thereto, said levers being alterna-tely engageable with said arm to move the carriage in opposite directions, and stationthe ends of the clanla ge strokes.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto a fiixed my signature.

MORRIS 'DORMAN. 

